Since I hope to use the PFS open call to help grow new freelancers for Paizo, my responses will be constructive. :-)
If I have time to respond to all of them ... or any of them. We'll see.
This is great to see. I've submitted stories to publishers and any feedback is rather rare. Thanks for the opportunity.
Even if I don't get selected, this has resulted in a scenario that I want to run for my players, and I've created an NPC that I think I can have a lot of fun with. I'm tempted to write it up anyway, just to share.
As others mentioned, I'm also looking forward to the next open call. I think I may have approached it in the wrong way.
Good luck to everyone!
it is good to hear that Josh will at least try to reply with constructive criticism... just to ask about how many entries over-all did you receive Josh?
Lots.
No less than 1.
I started reading the Perils of the Pirate Pact submissions yesterday.
That's all. No further comment.
I started reading the Perils of the Pirate Pact submissions yesterday.
That's all. No further comment.
That's ok. Yesterday I posted a few times on the messageboard.
That's all. No further comment.
You are such a tease!
I just read your post.
That's all. No further comment.
...about how many entries over-all did you receive Josh?
Lots.
Now that you've had a chance to glance at the submissions, are there any preliminary impressions that you would like to share?
I plan to share those in tomorrow's blog. :-)
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I plan to share those in tomorrow's blog. :-)
Hi Joshua,
I just read your post on the blog. I have not submitted an entry, but I wanted to say BRAVO! Those are great words of advice that anyone who wants to break into professional writing needs to hear and heed! It is kind of you to offer that advice rather than simply discarding submissions without a reason.I am not a professional writer, but I am an avid reader and the lack of spell checking and proofreading in many professionally published works in recent years has been excrutiating for me.
I have recently completed two college level writing courses and much of the advice you offered was stressed by my instructors: spelling, grammar, avoid passive voice, and avoid garbage, BS, and crap (or stick to the topic at hand).
Thanks.
All of the rejections went out via email for scenario #17. I'll announce the author I selected tomorrow. Rejections for #18 should go out tomorrow with the announced author happening then as well.
Take my feedback to heart, but don't take it personally. You should note I told every single one of you that I'm looking forward to your next submission and I mean that.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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All of the rejections went out via email for scenario #17. I'll announce the author I selected tomorrow. Rejections for #18 should go out tomorrow with the announced author happening then as well.
Take my feedback to heart, but don't take it personally. You should note I told every single one of you that I'm looking forward to your next submission and I mean that.
Hi Josh - do you have any problems with us posting the "losing" entries on the messageboards? I'd love to see the 101 takes on the scenario.
Take my feedback to heart, but don't take it personally. You should note I told every single one of you that I'm looking forward to your next submission and I mean that.
Josh, thank you for your response to my submission. I particularly appreciate the effort that you put into your critique. It's a thankless task (No one enjoys being shot down!), but I'll certainly keep your feedback in mind in the future.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Take my feedback to heart, but don't take it personally. You should note I told every single one of you that I'm looking forward to your next submission and I mean that.Josh, thank you for your response to my submission. I particularly appreciate the effort that you put into your critique. It's a thankless task (No one enjoys being shot down!), but I'll certainly keep your feedback in mind in the future.
Of course, what we'd all like to see is what an accepted submission looks like, but we aren't going to see that. In lieu of that, your feedback is much appreciated and valuable. Thanks.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Josh,
I, too, appreciate the detailed review of the submissions. Rejections aren't easy on either party, but you can bet that I'll be putting your advice to good use!
Cheers!
Paris
I'm not at all upset about having my submission rejected. Paizo has a wonderfully creative community and I can only imagine that some really strong submissions were accepted.
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All of the rejections went out via email for scenario #17. I'll announce the author I selected tomorrow. Rejections for #18 should go out tomorrow with the announced author happening then as well.
Take my feedback to heart, but don't take it personally. You should note I told every single one of you that I'm looking forward to your next submission and I mean that.
I received rejection for scenario #17. My first rejection letter. More importantly, Josh provided a critique!
Yeah! My first step to publishing in the rpg industry has been taken! Thanks, Paizo! :)
Feel free to start a thread and share the entries that weren't accepted--though keep in mind Paizo's policy regarding subject matter posted on the boards when doing so.
Creative Director
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Feel free to start a thread and share the entries that weren't accepted--though keep in mind Paizo's policy regarding subject matter posted on the boards when doing so.Could you quickly clarify what you mean?
I suspect that what he means is to not post stuff that's inappropriately violent, sexy, profane, or otherwise naughty. I haven't read many of the submissions (only a handful of the final contenders for each), but having seen plenty of other submissions over my years here at Paizo, every now and then we get some in that are too over the top to accept.
Of course, I'm just guessing here. Maybe he means something else!
Oh sorry, I should have been much more clear than I was!
I could have sworn we had some policy up somewhere about anything you post on the boards is ours blah blah to protect ourselves in case we had ideas similar to ones on the boards ... but I can find it, so never mind.
So, yeah, that's what I was talking about.
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Creative Director
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Oh sorry, I should have been much more clear than I was!
I could have sworn we had some policy up somewhere about anything you post on the boards is ours blah blah to protect ourselves in case we had ideas similar to ones on the boards ... but I can find it, so never mind.
So, yeah, that's what I was talking about.
Are you SURE there weren't any X-rated proposals that you rejected, though?
Are you SURE there weren't any X-rated proposals that you rejected, though?
I KNEW that I should have submitted the tale of the half-dragon pirates hunting the world's lustiest dragon...
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Looking at some of those scenario #17 entries and Josh's comments, I'm thinking I should have done better for my #18 submission. Ah well; all part of the learning experience.
Thank you (in advance) for the feedback you're going to send out for #18, Josh. :)
I feel the same about my scenario #18 submission as well, Charles Evans 25. Can't wait for the next submission call! :)
All of the rejections went out via email for scenario #17. I'll announce the author I selected tomorrow. Rejections for #18 should go out tomorrow with the announced author happening then as well.
Take my feedback to heart, but don't take it personally. You should note I told every single one of you that I'm looking forward to your next submission and I mean that.
Thank you for the (extensive) feedback, it is much more helpful than the one sentence 'thanks but no thanks' I sometimes get, if I get anything at all.
Are you SURE there weren't any X-rated proposals that you rejected, though?
Just mine.
Are you SURE there weren't any X-rated proposals that you rejected, though?Just mine.
Hot.
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Director of Brand Strategy
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So, oh evily tantalising director of Marketing & Organised Play (by te way, you need something along the lines of 'mercilessly tantalise the board regulars' recorded as an at will power in your profile, I think); when can we have the details for the next open call?
Charles, let him give us the promised results of this open call first, ok?
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Charles, let him give us the promised results of this open call first, ok?So, oh evily tantalising director of Marketing & Organised Play (by te way, you need something along the lines of 'mercilessly tantalise the board regulars' recorded as an at will power in your profile, I think); when can we have the details for the next open call?
On that note, when will the evily Event's Manager give us the results we so desperately seek?
All rejections and feedback are now sent for #18.
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Thank you for the feedback Mr. Frost. I have taken it to heart and shall pay closer attention in the future. Considering that this was my first experience with submitting material for publication I'm satisfied with the outcome. I'll probably clean up my submission a bit and then share it with the hopes of getting some feedback from the community.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Ummm. Now I'm not sure I want to check my email....Oh, stop being a woose. The agony will stop in a few months....
Agony? I pay people to tear into my writing much, much worse. Then, I smile and thank them afterwards. Josh gave some honest and clear feedback. The writing was a pleasure. Next time, I'll do one proposal only and try to keep the writing crisp.
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2) I should have made more of an effort to find out what the 'passive voice' is which you keep mentioning; although perhaps 'passive voice' is a European writing accent?
I think it's more commonly used over here than in the US; certainly I was taught that using the passive voice wasn't wrong per se, rather it's easy to misuse/overuse.
While passive voice certainly has a place in writing, in most adventure writing it comes across as ... well ... passive ... when there's a much stronger way to say the thing you're trying to say. Repeated use of passive voice in an opening paragraph, say, just feels lazy. An awesome website to help you recognize and destroy overuse of it can be found here. Over the past few years that website alone did wonders to help me clean passive voice out of my writing.
My feedback is the same style of feedback I gave and received for years in creative writing workshops. Any time I was in a workshop where everyone hinted and was overly nice about their response, none of the writers progressed. In those workshops, though, where the authors were brutal and openly honest, everyone progressed.
Now, I wasn't brutal. Just honest. If your opening paragraph didn't grab me, if your story idea didn't speak to me, if your writing style didn't fit my expectation of what we need in our authors, I told you. I then, in nearly every case, told you what exactly I wanted to see the next time.
And I want to see every single one of you submit next time.
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2) I should have made more of an effort to find out what the 'passive voice' is which you keep mentioning; although perhaps 'passive voice' is a European writing accent?
I think it's the difference between:
The vampire bit Seoni in the neck. (active)
vs
Seoni was bitten in the neck by the vampire. (passive)
Works for me. ... So, when is next time? ;-)
And I want to see every single one of you submit next time.
Next week.
Yup.